Daily Archives: February 6, 2012

Seriously, how many eighteen-year olds, Georgia recruits or otherwise, say something like this?

“I know a lot about the history of running backs, not just here, but everywhere. Obviously there’s Herschel, but I can name a lot of the running backs that went here. I have the Herschel documentary in my room.”

Let’s hope there’s a recruit in the class of 2030 saying something similar about Marshall.

[Ed. note: Yes, I know that’s a typo in the header… which is more than I can say for about a quarter of the people who post on message boards.]

In today’s edition of “I Blame Bobo”, Patrick Garbin painfully tracks a comparison of Mark Richt’s and Mike Bobo’s terms as offensive coordinator in twelve different statistical categories, scores it overwhelmingly in Bobo’s favor, notes that Georgia has won at a far lower rate with Bobo as OC and concludes:

… It’s no secret that many in the Bulldog Nation (including yours truly on occasion), during Georgia’s last few seasons of mediocrity, have been quick to point the finger at Bobo’s play calling as a major issue. However, at least comparatively speaking, I’m beginning to believe that Bobo isn’t necessarily a problem but maybe a scapegoat, and something else besides his play calling, or lack thereof, should be focused upon.

BWAHAAHAHAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH… wait, what? … he was serious about that?

Under the plan, there will be a Thursday night game on the NFL Network from the second to the 15th week of the season. Previously, the NFL didn’t start playing games on Thursday night until mid-November.

The move could seriously cut into ESPN’s exclusive Thursday night coverage of college football. Teams from the SEC, ACC, and Big East Conference usually highlight the schedule.

“We forget this is a contract, a two-way street,” Dooley said. “I think it’s humorous that the academic institution can give an academic scholarship and take it away when a student doesn’t perform at a certain GPA-level, but it’s absolutely the worst thing you can do as a coach — it’s so wrong what you do to these young people — when he doesn’t do what he’s supposed to do.”

And then, well, Dooley reminded the gathering of reporters that he has a background in law.

“I’m still trying to figure out what I’m missing,” he said. “You have these contracts. It’s called quid pro quo. We give you this. You give us that. But if they don’t give us that and we decide not to give them this, then it’s the worst thing you can do. I’m still struggling to understand that issue…”

The problem with the analogy, of course, is that GPA is a specifically defined term, whereas “that”… isn’t. It’s little more than a coach’s whim.

Put it this way: how would SOD react to an athletic director suggesting that his contract be set on a one-year, renewable basis, because that would make him a better coach? I suspect he’d find all kinds of reasons to reject that kind of logic.

Speaking of logic, there’s nothing that says a four-year scholarship deal wouldn’t have its own set of quid pro quo. It obviously would have to in order to be binding. I’m not sure why this is so hard for Dooley to understand, but he acts as if it is: “I’m not smart enough to figure it out. I have to spend more time on it before I give an opinion.”

Well, he could get a history lesson on the subject. After all, the one-year scholarship wasn’t mandated until 1973. Prior to then, multi-year arrangements were acceptable. Back in the day, did coaches have problems with kids not giving them “that”? Somehow, I doubt it. But why speculate? Fortunately, SOD knows somebody who coached in that era who could give him some answers about it. That should make for a lively discussion at the Dooley family’s next Thanksgiving dinner.